Women's Health, Fitness, & Inspirational Writer | Travel Writer

April 16, 2016

Dragonflies and cherry blossoms

I am a glass-half-full kind of girl.

I have a knack for finding the proverbial silver lining in the sh&#@iest of situations. (See number 31 in the list my oldest niece and nephew created called “32 reasons we love Mimi”.] It’s a survival mechanism that comes in handy when I find out I didn’t get the job (there have been a lot of those), get my heart bruised (a few of those as well), or receive crappy news in general.

Best. Gift. Ever.

After the appropriate time to mourn (i.e. a crying session on the couch, or, in desperate situations, sipping a whiskey during a nighttime shower…), I can tell you the good that came out of the bad, the lesson I learned, and when all else fails, that this too shall pass. Because it will.

Now that we’ve established I’m not a Debby Downer, let’s move on to what I really want to say:

We never want to think about “this too shall pass” when we’re feeling good, right? When we (FINALLY) get the job, meet a partner that makes our toes curl, are feeling healthy and active and generally full of bad-assery…when life has put a skip in your step, you don’t wanna think about the next hitch in your giddy-up. Or to say it more plainly: We don’t want to be reminded that this too shall pass when we’ve hit our stride.

But the reality is that it will.

[Let me remind you again that I’m Miss Pollyanna Positivity, full of skip in my step these days.]

This isn’t my way of saying life sucks or that people are out to get you or that striving for the good stuff isn’t worth it. (Because it is SO worth it.) What I’m saying is just another way to say let’s live in the moment. Enjoy now.

I have a tattoo on my left arm of cherry blossoms and dragonflies, both of which have a strong presence in my life. When I realized that cherry blossoms are a symbol of “enjoying the moment” because they only bloom for a short period of time, and dragonflies are about levity and accepting change, I thought that these two things together would be nice reminders that the only constant is change and the now is all there is.

When the tattoo was new. Trying to look cool.

And so, I remind myself to revel in and enjoy all the good things happening to me right now. To embrace the exciting changes. To take some time and smell the cherry blossoms. And to know that no matter what, even when it passes, I’m gonna be alright.